AP Women’s College Basketball Top 25 12/10/2018

December 10th, 2018 by admin

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ women’s college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Dec. 9, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week’s ranking:

	Record	Pts	Prv
1. UConn (31)	9-0	775	1
2. Notre Dame	8-1	736	2
3. Baylor	7-0	705	4
4. Louisville	10-0	685	5
5. Mississippi St.	9-0	654	6
6. Maryland	9-0	605	7
7. Oregon	7-1	576	3
8. Oregon St.	7-1	555	8
9. Tennessee	8-0	545	9
10. NC State	10-0	486	10
11. Stanford	6-1	464	11
12. Texas	7-2	389	12
13. Minnesota	9-0	374	14
13. California	8-0	374	13
15. Syracuse	8-2	336	15
16. Iowa	8-2	299	16
17. Arizona St.	7-2	226	17
18. Kentucky	9-1	196	19
19. Marquette	7-2	184	18
20. DePaul	7-3	182	20
21. Gonzaga	9-1	142	24
22. Missouri	8-2	122	23
23. Michigan St.	8-1	121	–
24. Miami	8-2	82	25
25. South Carolina	5-4	77	22

Others receiving votes: Drake 39, Texas A&M 24, Florida St. 22, Virginia Tech 21, South Florida 16, Iowa St. 14, Indiana 12, Georgia 11, South Dakota 10, Utah 5, West Virginia 5, Southern Cal 3, North Carolina 1, South Dakota St. 1, Cent Michigan 1.

Posted in Sports |

JEFF STEVENS, 61, of Atlantic (Svcs. 12/13/2018)

December 10th, 2018 by admin

JEFF STEVENS, 61, of Atlantic died Monday, December 10th at Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic. A Celebration of Life Visitation for JEFF STEVENS will be held on Thursday, December 13th from 4:00pm-6:00pm at Roland Funeral Home in Atlantic.

Burial will be held on Thursday, December 13th at 2:30pm at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Cemetery in Atlantic.

Online condolences may be left at www.RolandFuneralService.com

Memorials may be directed to the family for later designation to the Atlantic Animal Shelter.

JEFF STEVENS is survived by:

Sons: Jacob Stevens, Sean (Amy) Stevens.

Daughter: Rebecca (Austin) Klinghammer.

Sisters: Lynn Johnson, Michelle Atwood, and Jackie Stevens.

5 Grandchildren

Posted in Obituaries |

Sen. Boulton questions truthfulness of ethics complaint

December 10th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa lawmaker is challenging the accusations of a woman who filed an ethics complaint alleging he touched her inappropriately in 2015. Sen. Nate Boulton filed a response Monday to the Iowa Senate Committee on Ethics complaint, saying parts of the woman’s story “do not ring true.”

The woman, Des Moines attorney Sharon Wegner, filed a complaint Nov. 17 alleging Boulton repeatedly put his hand on her buttocks at a bar in November 2015. Boulton, who was elected in November 2016, argues ethics rules don’t apply because he hadn’t taken office. And he contends the alleged actions didn’t violate Senate sexual harassment rules because they’re not tied to behavior in the workplace.

He also provided a signed statement from a fellow lawyer indicating the woman portrayed herself as having a romantic interest in Boulton that he didn’t return. The accusations contributed to Boulton dropping his bid for the Democratic nomination for governor before the June primary. He has refused to resign from the Senate.

Posted in News |

(UPDATE) Iowa man dies in hunting accident at Lake Red Rock

December 10th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities are investigating a fatal hunting accident in south-central Iowa.
Marion County deputies and Iowa Natural Resources Department officials responded to a report of the shooting around 4:30 p.m. Sunday at Robert’s Creek Park on the north side of Lake Red Rock.
Officials say 23-year-old Blake E. Schroder, of Leighton, was fatally struck by a round apparently fired by a member of his hunting party.

An investigation is continuing, and an autopsy at the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner is pending.

Posted in News |

Group hopes to build support for prison-built homes to address Iowa’s housing shortage

December 10th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — A statewide association that provides technical assistance to Iowa cities, counties and businesses is backing an idea that could address the state’s housing shortage and provide prisoners who’ll be paroled some marketable job skills. The Iowa Association of Councils of Governments is offering to create a non-profit called Homes for Iowa to operate the Rural Homes Initiative. Rick Hunsaker, executive director of Region Seven of the Iowa Council of Governments, says the initiative would be modeled after a successful program in a neighboring state.

“What they do in South Dakota, have been doing for 20 years, is having prisoners construct stick-built houses that are then transported anywhere in the state of South Dakota and it is for workforce housing, essentially low- and moderate-income housing,” he says, “new houses that can be placed anywhere.” Hunsaker and others who are urging legislators to try the same program here suggest it could be called the Rural Housing Initiative. They envision having prisoners at the Newton Correctional facility build homes that would then be shipped to areas in need of affordable housing.

Advocates for this initiative are asking legislators to commit about four-million state tax dollars to cover start-up costs. “It requires a new fence to be built. It requires the site work to be done and the platforms and pylons to be constructed and installed so that we can build houses on that. It requires us to have a large warehouse so that we’re able to bulk-buy supplies,” Hunsaker says. “…It requires the trucks which are specialized, that they have jacks that can lower them down, get underneath the houses and bring them out.”

Advocates on this program envision paying the prisoners for their work, most of which would be used to cover fines, restitution, court costs and room and board. According to Hunsaker, it will also cut back on crime. Inmates involved in South Dakota’s home construction program have a 35 percent lower rate of committing another crime compared to the general prison population.

Hunsaker is among those hoping to build a coalition of groups to lobby legislators to authorize this program. The idea won initial committee approval in the state senate this past year, but did not wind up in the legislature’s final budget plan.

Posted in News |

FEMA denies individual disaster aid to Iowa storm victims

December 10th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Federal Emergency Management Agency has again denied Gov. Kim Reynolds’ request for disaster assistance to flood victims in four Iowa counties. Reynolds announced Monday that FEMA had denied her appeal of the agency’s earlier denial of help to victims in Buchanan, Dickinson, Polk and Winnebago counties. The request followed severe storms and flooding from June 6 to July 2. FEMA notified the governor in August that the impact wasn’t severe enough to merit individual assistance.

President Donald Trump declared the four counties presidential disaster areas, making them available for other assistance. Reynolds also issued a disaster proclamation for the counties and has worked to provide more than $2.8 million in aid. Last week, FEMA denied individual disaster aid to victims of July tornadoes that hit Marshall and Polk counties.

Posted in News |

Residential fire in Atlantic Monday afternoon

December 10th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

(Updated 12/11) — Atlantic Fire and Medivac Ambulance were called to the scene of a residential fire Monday afternoon. A call about smoke coming from the attic at 709 Cedar Street was called-in at around 1:30-p.m. A young female and her grandmother were able to escape the home as crews were arriving. Smoke was visible from the northwest corner of the home as fire crews worked to get to the source of the flames and ventilate the structure.

Ric Hanson (photos)

Fire Chief Mark McNees said the residents smelled smoke earlier in the day, but were not able to determine where it was coming from. Crews remained on the scene until about 3:25-p.m. The cause remains under investigation as of today (Tuesday, 12/11).

Atlantic Police, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies and Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon assisted at the scene.

Posted in News |

Traffic note for the City of Atlantic

December 10th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

Officials with the City of Atlantic have announced Chestnut Street between 7th and 8th Street will be blocked-off Tuesday through Thursday, of this week. Work being done in the area will limit access to the 1st Whitney Bank at 7th and Chestnut, to traffic from the north, only.

Posted in News |

Woman accused of stealing painkillers takes plea deal

December 10th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A woman accused of stealing narcotic pain pills while working for a Council Bluffs assisted living facility has taken a plea deal. The Daily Nonpareil reports that 31-year-old Mandi Newsom was given two years of probation and fined $1,000 Friday. She also was granted a deferred judgment. That means Newsom’s conviction in the case can be removed from court records if she fulfills her probation terms.

She pleaded guilty to a felony drug charge, and prosecutors dropped two related charges in return. Her trial was scheduled to begin Jan. 15. Newsom was accused of stealing nearly 1,900 oxycodone and hydrocodone pills from January 2017 to August 2017 while working at Bethany Heights Assisted Living.

Posted in News |

Food Bank of Iowa sees demand grow

December 10th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — The leader of the Food Bank of Iowa says they saw an increased demand in November and she doesn’t expect that to drop off. Food Bank C-E-O, Michelle Book, says they had been distributing an average of one million pounds of food each month to their 55 counties. “We saw our distribution spike dramatically to a million and-half pounds of food for the month of November. That’s a first time for us to distribute at that level,” Book says.

Iowa’s unemployment level has dropped to its lowest in decades and Book says she’s often asked why there is still such a need with the level so low. She says while people are employed, productivity hasn’t gone up, and that means wages haven’t risen much. “For ten years wages in Iowa have been stagnant,” Book says. “At the same time the cost of living continues to increase. “For many of us when the recession cured, things improved for many of us.But for the folks who’re on that lower rung of the ladder — things did not improve for them.” Book says cold weather puts an added strain on people’s budgets. “You can choose not to run your air conditioner in the summer — and most folks when they are in that situation make that choice. But in the winter time, you can’t make the choice to not run your furnace. Especially when you are elderly or you have children in the household. Difficult decisions are made every day,” according to Book.

And she says when schools close for the holidays, there is another resource not available. “The kids are not in school and they are not getting two key meals a day from the school system,” she says. Book says they have been able to handle the increase need for food after expanding their warehouse. One thing she says they do need more of is volunteers. “Of the food that we distribute every month — 55 percent of it is donated — and almost all of that has to be touched in one way or another,” Book says. “So, we’d love to have people come in an volunteer at Food Bank of Iowa.

She says if you can’t get into their facility in Des Moines, you can offer to help and volunteer at your local food pantry. Book says donations of money also help. “We’re always looking for additional funds. We prefer to get the food donated, but when we can’t we do buy food to make sure that we have a full and complete inventory,” Book explains. “And one dollar donated to the Food Bank of Iowa can be turned into four meals for hungry Iowans.” You can make a donation at: www.foodbankiowa.org.

Posted in News |

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